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Waiting for Thabo Mbeki

New York Times

Editorial

Published: May
17, 2007Will Robert Mugabe's outrages never stop? For months he has been
jailing and brutalizing opposition leaders and trampling the rule of law in
order to guarantee himself another rigged victory in next year's
presidential elections.

If Zimbabwe is to brake its headlong descent
into tyranny, famine and some of the world's lowest life-expectancy figures,
the leaders of neighboring African countries will have to bring strong
political and economic pressure on Mr. Mugabe, and they will have to move
quickly. So far they have done the opposite. In the midst of Mr. Mugabe's
reign of terror, his fellow African leaders appallingly selected the
continent's prime example of economic free fall as the chair of the United
Nations' Commission on Sustainable Development.

The leader with the
most potential leverage is Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, which
is the region's political powerhouse, as well as the supplier of 40 percent
of Zimbabwe's electricity and one of its largest investors. A group of
southern African nations have asked Mr. Mbeki to mediate between Mr. Mugabe
and his opponents. So far, Mr. Mbeki hasn't done much more than write a few
letters.

If his mediation is to succeed, substantive negotiations will
have to start quickly and be concluded well in advance of next year's
election. And, to assure that the opposition can freely campaign, Mr. Mbeki
must insist that Zimbabwe repeal its legal restrictions on free assembly and
that Mr. Mugabe stop terrorizing opposition leaders.

If the human
tragedy of Zimbabwe cannot move Mr. Mbeki, he might at least consider his
own country's narrow self-interest. Potential investors in South Africa can
only be put off by the growing tide of misery and upheaval just over the
border.

Miffed Zimbabwe accuses Australia of funding terrorism

SYDNEY (AFP) - Zimbabwe's government, furious over
the cancellation of a key Australian cricket tour, on Thursday accused
Canberra of funding "terrorist activities" in the troubled African
nation.

Harare hit back days after Prime Minister John Howard banned
Australia's tour of Zimbabwe, saying it would provide a propaganda boost for
its "grubby dictator" Robert Mugabe.

Zimbabwe's Information Minister
Sikyaniso Ndlovu claimed Howard's government was trying to topple Mugabe by
funding political violence in Zimbabwe through cash channelled to aid groups
and vowed the alleged bid would be thwarted.

"The monies that come to
them are to cause violence, terrorist activities," Ndlovu told the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "I've got a list, a long list of their
terrorist activities here.

"We will not tolerate violence by the puppets
here who are funded by the Australian government," he said, also taking the
opportunity to slam Howard as acting in "Gestapo"-like fashion by banning
the cricket tour.

"He is the international Gestapo and a criminal ... he
is worse than anybody else, his actions in banning the cricket is just one
example of being the Gestapo," Ndlovu said of Howard in an angry
outburst.

That barb came in response to Howard's claim on Sunday that the
"Mugabe regime at present is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political
opponents."

Ndlovu also insisted that the cancellation of the cricket
tour would have no impact on Zimbabwe and would hurt Australia
more.

Zimbabwe's junior information minister earlier this week said the
ban was a racist ploy designed to keep the country out of international
sport, a charge rejected by Canberra.

Robert Mugabe shouldn't get immunity

The New Republic

by Suzanne Nossel Only at TNR Online | Post date
05.17.07

At long last, we seem to be
approaching--fitfully--global agreement than Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's
elected dictator, must go. He is presiding over 80 percent unemployment, an
inflation rate of 1,700 percent, and shortages of nearly all basic goods. In
response to his troubles, Mugabe has attacked and injured opposition
leaders, opened fire on protestors, and beaten those who resist arrest. In a
comparison that is as harsh as it gets in southern Africa, clerics have
equated his tyrannical tactics to the worst of Pretoria's apartheid
regime.

And, since many of his critics now believe that toppling his
regime--and getting a fresh start for Zimbabwe--is more important than
holding him to account, there are increasing calls for Mugabe to be
forgiven. Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai--whose skull was
cracked open in police custody last month--has hinted that Mugabe should be
offered immunity if he agrees to step down. The International Crisis Group,
in a March report, likewise assumed that immunity would be part of the
solution. It is widely surmised that, if current efforts by South African
President Thabo Mbeki help end to Mugabe's rule, protection from prosecution
may be part of the deal.

But, while immunity may seem a tempting
solution--no worse than the way many other tyrants have left
office--offering it to Mugabe now would represent a big step backward. As
African countries struggle to crack down on corruption and clean up messes
in their own neighborhood, allowing one of the continent's notorious
strongmen to walk free--without ever holding him to account--would simply
enable future despots. Mugabe missed his chance to take advantage of a long
era of impunity for brutal heads of state--and, now, it's too late to make
an exception.

An immunity offer has obvious appeal: If Mugabe can
be coaxed to leave Harare voluntarily, he could obviate the need for either
an internal coup or aggressive international action (by either South
Africa's neighbors or the international community). Allowing Mugabe to while
away the rest of his days (and, remember, he is already 83) on a beachfront
may seem like a small price to pay for the return of stability in Zimbabwe.
It may be of particular appeal to Mugabe's neighbors, who wish to resolve
the region's crisis without turning on a longtime friend. (Solidarity with
Mugabe, who helped throw off the colonial yoke of white-minority rule in
Rhodesia, has stood in the way regional pressure.)

But while a
temporary exile may be needed to get Mugabe to step aside, it should not be
accompanied by permanent impunity for his crimes. Mugabe has orchestrated
state-sponsored assassination, uprooted entire populations, and starved
political opponents. The victims of these high crimes deserve justice,
either by a domestic court or--failing that--an international one. Human
rights violations like Mugabe's cannot simply be overlooked without
threatening respect for human rights worldwide. If powerful human rights
violators are above the law, other tyrants will continue their misery
making, safe in the knowledge that they risk, at most, their authority, not
their hides.

In fact, Mugabe's self-assuredness over the years owes
in part to the comfortable exiles won by Marcos of the Philippines, Duvalier
of Haiti, Mengistu of Ethiopia, Amin of Uganda, Stroessner of Paraguay,
Mobutu of then-Zaire, the Shah of Iran, and Liberia's Charles Taylor. In
most of these cases, exile meant de facto immunity, since no international
courts were available to try the dictators' crimes.

Most of those
countries were better off when those men left, but the mere fact of their
departure isn't a good enough reason to insulate them from punishment. And
this sentiment is gaining in popularity. That's why Taylor's story ended
differently: After a few years spent lying low in Calabar, Nigeria's
president finally succumbed to international pressure and turned him over to
the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone. By detailing Taylor's
horrific crimes, proponents of accountability overcame Nigeria's promises to
protect the fallen dictator.

Of course, this bodes well for justice, but
poorly for precedent. By some accounts, Taylor's saga has complicated
Mbeki's approach toward Mugabe: What good is exile if it is not accompanied
by immunity? What use is an immunity offer if it can be unilaterally
rescinded?

The answer is not much--and that's how it should be.
But by taking a stand for accountability in Zimbabwe, instead of letting
Mugabe skulk away, Mbeki and others could signal a new era for Africa--one
that rejects corrupt and brutal leaders, no matter their revolutionary
pedigree. Considerations of pan-African solidarity are too often allowed to
trump both the fundamental values of Africa's democracies and the interests
of its often defenseless populations. This pattern has helped prolong the
crisis in Darfur and the strife in Congo. And the message is equally
important for Zimbabwe's opposition: The regime that replaces Mugabe must
mark a sharp break from the past--including true legal
accountability.

Rejecting an immunity deal would also reflect the
sea-change in international justice that has taken place in recent decades.
The creation of the U.N.'s special tribunals for the former Yugoslavia,
Rwanda, and Sierra Leone--as well as the creation of the International
Criminal Court in 1998--have made justice available for perpetrators of some
of the world's most notorious crimes. These courts are beyond the reach of
tyrants, threats, and violence. At the same time, these bodies are beginning
to reshape public expectations so that the idea of brutal thugs retiring in
safe splendor is less accepted than it used to be. People have tasted
international criminal justice, and they are asking for more.

Africa
is at an inflection point when it comes to holding leaders responsible for
corruption, incompetence, and human rights abuses. With the arrest of
Charles Taylor, the continent shifted from willingness to let bygones be
bygones (as the governments of Mozambique, Botswana, and Angola once avowed)
to the beginnings of accountability. Having made these first steps, Africa
should not let the likes of Mugabe drag it backward again.

UN denies helping Zimbabwe diamond smuggling

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United
Nations said Wednesday an independent probe was being conducted into whether
U.N. vehicles were used to smuggle diamonds from a mine in
Zimbabwe.

Spokeswoman Michele Montas confirmed that Larry Johnson, the
deputy legal counsel, had received a letter alleging that at least one
vehicle from the U.N. Development Fund (UNDP) was involved in the
smuggling.

UNDP spokeswoman Cassandra Waldon denied the charge. "No UNDP
vehicle has been used in any illegal activity," she said.

A lawyer
representing Bubye Minerals wrote to the U.N. legal office, saying their
rivals in ownership for River Ranch Limited had smuggled diamonds out of
Zimbabwe with the assistance of UNDP, according to the Zimbabwe-based
Financial Gazette newspaper.

Bubye Minerals has accused the directors
of River Ranch of seizing the mine and renaming it.

Waldon said UNDP
was a trustee but not on the staff of the African Management Services
Company (AMSCO), a regional project supported by governments as well as the
World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance
Corporation.

AMSCO helps African countries become globally competitive
and brings in expatriate managers or experts, seven of whom are in Zimbabwe.
UNDP supports the work of the experts, such as security accreditation,
Waldon said.

Waldon said similar allegations about UNDP had surfaced
earlier this year and were investigated by AMSCO and the UNDP office in
Zimbabwe, which found "no illegalities."

Now that the accusations
have resurfaced, the AMSCO board of directors had asked outside
investigators to conduct another probe, Waldon said.

But UNDP is not yet
conducting a separate inquiry.

"We are following it very closely. We will
await the results of the investigation and UNDP will determine whether any
further action is warranted," Waldon said.

In January, the industry's
World Diamond Council said it received reports that diamonds in Zimbabwe
were being smuggled into neighboring South Africa, where they were being
certified as legitimate. The charge is still being investigated.

The
council said River Ranch was among the smuggling sites named in the report.
River Ranch denied the accusations and a lawyer for the group said no
diamonds had even been mined.

Illegal mining is rising in Zimbabwe as
people grapple with an economic crisis that has seen inflation rise to over
2,000 percent, the highest in the world, and poverty levels soar.

Zimbabwe University Students Targeted As State Quells
Dissent

VOA

By Patience Rusere Washington 16 May
2007

Zimbabwe continued its clampdown on students Wednesday,
as three students from Bindura University of Science and Education in
Mashonaland Central, said they have been forced to go into hiding, following
threats on their lives by state security agents.

The three students,
Moreblessing Mabhunu, Chiedza Gadzirayi and Tinashe Madamombe, said they
received death threats over the phone from state security agents, for their
alleged involvement with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and
the Bindura Residents Association.

The students said the security agents
told them that their attendance at an MDC rally over the weekend, and their
participation in the Bindura Residents Association is an insult to ZANU-PF
political commissar Elliot Manyika, who is the party's Member of Parliament
for the Mashonaland Central constituency. The state agents reportedly told
the students they were operating in a "no go territory."

The threats
follow a spate of expulsions, suspensions, arrests and beatings of students
and student leaders.

Senior Programs Manager for the Crisis In Zimbabwe
Coalition, Phillipp Pasirayi, told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe, that the increased crackdown reflects a fear of growing
discontent in the student movement.

Meanwhile in Harare Tuesday, Vice
Chancellor Levy Nyagura of the University of Zimbabwe, is said to have
expelled Terrence Chimhavi, a candidate for the presidency of the Students
Executive Council, and nine others, because they took part in last week's
disturbances at the University, which resulted in extensive damage to
property.

Some of the suspended students included Sambulo Mathema, the
secretary-general of the Students Executive Council and others, namely
Roicki Chikate, Kudakwashe Mapundu, Shingai Kunoziva, Dominic
Shumba.

Mathema told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe, that the expulsion and suspension letters were delivered Monday,
but proper procedures were not followed.

In other student related
news, two University of Zimbabwe students - Prosper Munatsi, who heads the
university's Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe and member Munyaradzi
Chikorohondo, were finally released Wednesday, after their May 10 arrest, at
a demonstration at the University of Zimbabwe. A high court ordered their
release Tuesday.

Zimbabwe teachers said they are suspicious of some forms that
are being distributed around the country for them to fill in, by unknown
sources including uniformed police.

The form, in Studio 7's
possession, requires teachers' personal details including a photograph.
However the form has no letterhead or details of its origin.

Peter
Mabhande, president of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, one of the three
teachers' representative unions, confirmed the distribution of the forms but
said his association is urging teachers not to give out personal information
to strangers.

Mabhande said the President's Office and the Ministry of
Education have denied any involvement in the distribution of the
forms.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe general secretary Raymond
Majongwe told Studio 7 reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that they suspect the
information being collected will be used against their members during
political witch-hunts.

NMB depositors panic

The Zimbabwean

HARARE - A massive bank run on
deposits hit troubled NMB bank this week after the eruption of a financial
scandal in which the institution was fleeced of a staggering US$4 million by
one of the bank managers. Long queues of panicky depositors waited outside
branches of the bank in central Harare amid reports the bank was limiting
cash withdrawals.There were many people waiting outside the cash machine at
an NMB bank branch in Harare's main First Street while a queue snaked out of
one of the city branches. Reports that the police fraud squad and officials
from the Reserve Bank's Bank Surveillance Unit had quizzed senior NMB bank
managers, fuelled anxiety among depositors who said the scandal echoed the
2004 banking sector crisis. Although bank sources said the fraud had not
seriously exposed the financial institution, thanks to the RBZ's new
stringent statutory reserves, depositors expressed fears that the central
bank could move to put the bank under curatorship, a move which could lock
up billions in depositors' monies in the bank.The US$4 million stolen
from the bank, catering mainly for high net worth clients, was reportedly
deposited into a Swiss bank account in Zurich. The salted away cash
constituted deposits made by individual foreign currency account holders,
NGOs, diplomatic missions seconded to Harare and exporters holding bank
accounts with the troubled institution. An assistant manager in NMB's
Treasury department, Shame Mandara, who has since skipped the border, bilked
the cash through a personal foreign currency account using falsified
documents.The fraud squad, which opened investigations into the theft last
week, detected almost six months later, believes senior managers at the bank
colluded with the fugitive assistant manager.The scandal has rocked the
financial sector, which had recently been given a clean bill of health by
RBZ governor Gideon Gono following his banking sector reforms.Angry
depositors said they were only being allowed to withdraw a maximum of $1,5
million. Zimbabweans are struggling under shortages of many basic goods,
including foodstuffs and fuel, while inflation has now topped 2,200 percent.
- Chief Reporter

Zanu (PF) U turn on senate

The Zimbabwean

HARARE - Zanu (PF) has made
changes to earlier proposals to reconstitute the Senate amid reports the
ruling party was afraid of losing legislative elections due next
March.Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa
announced at the end of an extraordinary Central Committee meeting last
Friday that while Zanu (PF) still wanted to increase the number of Senators
from 66 to 84, the party was dropping earlier proposals for appointment
through a proportional representation system.Under the system, Zanu (PF)
was going to appoint senators according to the percentage of Members of
Parliament who would have been elected on a Zanu (PF) ticket in the Lower
House.Ruling party sources said the proposal was dropped following fears
that the opposition might win the majority in Parliament and therefore would
automatically have the majority of senators if the proportional
representation system was used.The original proposal for changes in the
Senate included having 60 Senators elected indirectly under a system of
proportional representation, 10 provincial governors, 10 senator chiefs and
four senators appointed by President Mugabe to represent special interest
groups.This has been discarded because it does not fit into proposed plans
by Zanu (PF) to have Parliament choose a new president in the event that
Mugabe is re-elected and chooses to resign or die in office. If the
opposition holds the majority in the House, it would mean Parliament would
choose an opposition president.Cognisant of these changes, the ruling
party has decided that, while the new Senate will still be increased to 84,
the number will be differently made up, with 50 senators directly elected by
voters in senatorial constituencies as at present, 18 senator chiefs
increased from 10 at present, 10 provincial governors [at present they sit
in the House of Assembly], and six Senators appointed by President Mugabe,
as at present.Chinamasa said the drafting of Constitution Amendment No. 18,
capturing all these changes, would start soon. Chinamasa said local
government elections were due in January, while the rest of the polls,
presidential and legislative, were set for March.

Food for votes

The Zimbabwean

It must be quite embarrassing to the
rotten Zimbabwe government to read media reports that both Malawi and Zambia
will be exporting thousands of tonnes of maize this year. These two former
British colonies used to import maize, their staple food, from Zimbabwe year
in and year out.To make matters look even more depressing; Zimbabwe will be
exchanging one tonne of sugar for two tonnes of maize with Malawi. Granted,
the past cropping season has not been as wet as it normally should have
been, but to have to import maize from countries that we used to sell that
produce to is a serious indictment against the Mugabe regime.While it is
a noble idea to import maize from the nearest countries around us, it is
also very clear to even a casual onlooker that the regime is in the process
of amassing adequate levels of maize in preparation for its usual 'carrot
and stick' tactic of forcing the electorate to vote Zanu (PF) in the
forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. Experience has
consistently demonstrated that because of the evil embedded in that party,
Zanu (PF) is always quick to take advantage of each and every humanitarian
disaster to further its own political ends.The only people who are going
to benefit from drought relief distributed by the government will be Zanu
(PF) card holders, whether or not they are members of that satanic party.
The people of Zimbabwe, particularly those living in the rural areas, are
fully aware of the requirement that they should have their Zanu (PF) cards
to hand if they should wish to purchase or receive free of charge any food
that the designated state structures may be availing to the public.In
order to tighten the screws, the regime has demanded that all NGOs in
Zimbabwe re-register with the relevant government departments, as well as
sign new memoranda of understanding. The primary intention here is to ensure
that NGOs that may wish to distribute food aid to the starving masses are
effectively controlled, so that the beneficiaries of the food aid be people
who will vote for Zanu (PF) and its aged leader, Robert
Mugabe.Traditional leaders such as chiefs and headmen are going to play a
crucial role in drawing up lists of people who should be assisted with
drought relief. Traditional leaders are generally notorious for supporting
the bloodthirsty Zanu (PF) dictatorship.In the past, the MDC has tried
to import and distribute food to needy Zimbabweans, but the frightened
Mugabe regime would not allow that to happen. In fact, some of the imported
food ended up being confiscated by the evil regime, much to the frustration
of the opposition MDC. It is doubtful that this time around the MDC could
repeat this futile exercise since the party has extremely limited financial
and other resources.In other words, Zanu (PF) is setting the stage for
rigging the 2008 elections virtually 10 months in advance. Frankly, when
given a choice between voting for the MDC and starving to death, or voting
for Zanu (PF) and staying alive, any sensible person would choose the
later.The politics of the stomach will play a critical role in the
forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. It is therefore
necessary to educate the public to understand that they can proceed to
acquire the Zanu (PF) cards and so have access to food, but that they do not
have to vote for that demonic political party in the elections. The people
need to be assured that Zanu (PF) will not be able to know how they voted in
the elections. Civil society, including the churches, needs to urgently play
this role for the sake of democracy in Zimbabwe.

No amnesty for Mugabe - Poll

The Zimbabwean

HARARE - The majority of
respondents to an opinion poll conducted by The Zimbabwean last week
vehemently oppose amnesty for President Robert Mugabe for crimes he has
committed against the people. Zimbabweans voted overwhelmingly to deny
Mugabe amnesty, by a margin of more than eight to one."Amnesty for
Mugabe?" asked the Zimbabwean of its readers, both actual and virtual -
online at www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
and simultaneously in a front-page splash in the hard copy last
Thursday.Readers had the opportunity to respond by e-mail or sms. By Tuesday
303 sms messages (86,1 percent) answered "No" amnesty for Mugabe, and 49
answered "Yes". Most of those agreeing to amnesty suggested conditional
pardon hinging on an early departure of the ageing despot. All the email
responses were negative."Yes I think Tsvangirai should give Mugabe
amnesty if it will ensure he will step down sooner," said one sms.From
the flurry responses it emerged that, to most Zimbabweans, the issue of
amnesty was a choice between peace and justice and between retribution and
reconciliation.While an overwhelming majority staunchly rejected the
chance of amnesty proposed by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in return for
Mugabe's early departure, the minority who voted for amnesty suggested that
no-one was God-ordained to judge another human being."God Almighty will
deal with him. Its not for us to judge him," said a Zvimba-based reader
supporting amnesty.A Bulawayo-based reader charged that Tsvangirai was not
qualified to comment on amnesty for Mugabe and forgiveness for the 80s
Matabeleland genocide."How can one Shona forgive another Shona for a
massacre of Ndebeles?" read the sms.The majority who voted against
amnesty said Mugabe had committed heinous crimes and that without justice
there could be no healing and no guarantee of the rule of law. From the tone
of the messages, it emerged that no group felt this more keenly than the
relatives of the "disappeared" - those kidnapped by the state and taken to
secret detention centres and tortured."Hey, hey, hey, Morgan, no amnesty for
this man. For three days I was tortured and you want him to walk away scot
free? Urikurasika papi? (You are losing the plot)," said an sms from
Highfield by an anonymous reader.Other readers were more dramatic or
extreme."Mugabe must go same way like Saddam," read a terse sms from
Entumbane.Other readers suggested that Zimbabwe rush through an amnesty for
Mugabe to ensure his early departure and then annul it soon after the fall
of his regime.The first act of a post-Mugabe democratic government
should be to set up a truth and reconciliation commission, modelled along
the South African experience, said Maggie, a Zimbabwean working in
Johannesburg."All this suffering was caused by him. Gukurahundi,
Murambatsvina and corruption. No amnesty."Other readers suggested Mugabe
was supposed to be put on trial at the International Criminal Court in The
Hague for crimes against humanity.An e-mail sent from Canadian-based James
Maramwire reads: "At other times, an amnesty, which may later be unpicked or
annulled, may help to secure peace. In cases involving the worst crimes,
justice must never be sacrificed to peace."

Zanu heavies squabble over oil

The Zimbabwean

CHINHOYIThe
cash-strapped Zimbabwe government claims it has made a landmark oil
discovery in Chinhoyi, a resort town in the north of the country, amid
reports the find has provoked new tensions between central government and
the provincial leadership.President Robert Mugabe's government claims it
has found more than 1 million barrels of oil after testing a well drilled at
Maningwe, a farm located a stone's throw from Chinhoyi Caves, which was
grabbed from a white farmer at the height of the land grab.The well
flowed at 50 barrels a day, providing reassurance that the oil-bearing rocks
that contain the massive oilfield extend into Zimbabwe. The discovery, which
will become the first oil field in Zimbabwe if confirmed by fuel experts,
gives a big boost to the economic prospects of the crisis-torn country and
has also raised the political stakes over who controls the valuable energy
resource.Fears that oil ambitions could ignite political conflict between
the Minister of Energy, Mike Nyambuya, and Nelson Samkange, governor of
Mashonaland West - the province in which Chinhoyi falls - were aroused last
month when Nyambuya reportedly declared that all oil exploration and
research should be handled by the Energy Ministry in Harare and the
Geological Survey department.His assertion appeared to conflict with
Samkange's grant of licences of exploration and research to the Chinhoyi
University of Technology (CUT). Although officials at the CUT were
tight-lipped when The Zimbabwean visited the campus last Friday, sources in
the Faculty of Fuels and Energy confirmed that the university had run a
series of tests on samples of oil from the site."Initial tests indicate
the presence of large quantities of light and high quality oil and huge
quantities of associated gas," said our source. A visit to the site, eight
kilometres from Chinhoyi along Kariba Road, revealed that the place had been
cordoned off by gun-toting state security personnel.A Zimbabwe flag has
been hoisted at the site. The Zimbabwean was unable to verify reports that
the Maningwe mole, located in a rugged terrain, was oozing with oil. A
svikiro (spirit medium) at the site denied our news crew access, claiming
there were rituals which had to be carried out before the site was opened to
the public. Authoritative sources said there was a dog-fight between
central government and the provincial leadership over the oil find amid
reports both Samkange and Nyambuya were keen to benefit financially from the
grant of licences to foreign firms clandestinely enquiring about acquiring
exploration rights over the territory.Sources closely following the oil deal
said there was an Iranian investor who had enquired about signing a
production-sharing agreement with the provincial leadership. The investment
reportedly involves sums ranging around US$4,5 million. Nyambuya was
unavailable for comment, while Sanmkange did not return several calls to his
office.Legal experts said Zimbabwe's constitution was ambiguous as to which
jurisdiction has the ultimate authority over mineral rights. It envisages
that both central and provincial governments have the right to cut deals
with private companies but stipulates that the revenues from taxation should
be distributed fairly. - Chief Reporter

Zim seeks travel ban waiver for Nhema

The Zimbabwean

HARARE - Zimbabwe
will seek the waiver of US and EU travel bans on a crony of President Robert
Mugabe - Francis Nhema - controversially elected weekend to head an
influential United Nations organisation responsible for sustainable
development.Combined votes of Africa and most of Latin America, against
strong opposition from the EU, installed Nhema, Zimbabwe's incumbent
Environment and Tourism Minister, in the chair of the United Nations
Commission on Sustainable Development last Friday.It is understood that
Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi has immediately asked the
Zimbabwean ambassador to UN, Boniface Chidyausiku to petition the EU and US
to lift the travel ban on Nhema because it made it impossible for him to
function.Ian Pearson, Britain's minister for Climate Change and the
Environment, said: "Zimbabwe's election will be seen as an outrage by
millions of people who look to the United Nations for help to escape from
poverty. They will be asking how the body charged with promoting sustainable
development can maintain credibility while being chaired by a representative
of a government whose failed policies have destroyed its own economy." -
Chief Reporter

War vets join army

The Zimbabwean

THE Zimbabwe National Army barracks
in Mount Darwin (Mashonaland) have been revived by the arrival of nearly
1000 former freedom fighters who are currently undergoing re-orientation
courses in the use of firearms and weapon handling under highly trained army
instructors, CAJ News Agency can reveal.The former ex-combatants are
fused with the youth brigade members commonly known as Green Bombers in a
new Zimbabwe National Army mould to create a defence force which is
politically loyal.Asked to comment of this new development, the Zimbabwe
National Army spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Tsatsi said the environment
determines the tactics and strategy to be adopted."If the environment
demands a politically oriented unit, that's it," he said.The ZNA has of
late experienced massive desertions by junior officers who see a black
future in the army.Members of the army have on numerous occasions been
involved in armed robberies and theft. - CAJ News

Bob's wailers assault gogo

The Zimbabwean

HARARE - President
Robert Mugabe's bodyguards smashed the car windscreen of an elderly woman at
the weekend, pulled her out of the vehicle, damaged her dashboard with a
barrel of a gun and severely assaulted her for allegedly blocking the way
for the ageing leader's motorcade in a leafy Harare suburb.The woman had
just turned from the TM Supermarket entrance onto the Borrowdale Road when
she pulled over to answer her cell phone.She was accosted as she was
chatting on her phone by bodyguards on outriders from the Presidential
cavalcade and the beating started. She claimed she heard no warning
sirens.The outriders, which guide President Mugabe's motorcade and are
synonymous for continuously sounding their sirens as a warning to motorists
to move off the road, have been recently silenced in as yet unclear
circumstances.Only the front outriders have been sounding their sirens to
warn motorists to clear the road.The elderly woman becomes the second
person to be assaulted inside a week along the Borrowdale Road, with another
driver assaulted last week near Borrowdale Junior School.Presidential
spokesman George Charamba was not available for comment. But an official in
the President's Office said it was up to the President's close security
personnel to ensure his safety by "any means necessary."President Mugabe's
long motorcade is usually guided by police outriders travelling on 750 to 1
000cc motorbikes. They are followed by police cars and these by the
President's official cars, with trucks of army personnel and Mugabe's
ambulance forming the tail.Outriders travelling way ahead of the motorcade
clear the way for the rest of the entourage using the wailing
sirens.When the motorcade sweeps down the road, all vehicles are supposed to
pull over and pedestrians should stop walking.

Good on yer, mate

The Zimbabwean

We applaud the Australian
government for its principled stand against the human catastrophe that is
Zimbabwe today - for which one man, Robert Mugabe, is responsible. We would
like to see other countries adopting such a stanceIt sends an unambiguous
message that what is going on in the country is totally unacceptable by
decent human beings.Some people have said one should not mix sport with
politics. But the Mugabe regime itself does. In the case of cricket, Mugabe
is himself the patron of Zimbabwe Cricket - which has transformed itself
into Zanu (PF) cricket. It is run by Zanu functionaries. Any cricket teams
visiting Zimbabwe are paraded by the government as a propaganda coup and
lined up to shake the bloodied hand of the dictator.As has happened in
the past, the visiting team would have been accommodated in five-star
hotels. Fuel would have been found for them to be bussed in luxury to and
from the ground with a police escort to ensure that they were not disturbed
by hungry, angry crowds. The local media would have fawned on them and
trumpeted that all is well between Zimbabwe and the international
community.On behalf of most Zimbabweans - thank you John
Howard.

They can't be seriousIt is despicable that a country that has
wilfully destroyed its infrastructure and its economy for the sake of power
and greed should have been given a responsible post in an international
forum. That such a forum should be dedicated to sustainable economic
development is farcical.If the United Nations want the world to take it
seriously, it has to start with itself. When its members elect countries
like Zimbabwe to sit on its human rights commission at a time when that
country is in the process of trampling wholesale on the human rights of its
own citizens, they cannot expect to be taken seriously.The election of
Francis Nhema, Zimbabwe's minister of tourism, to the head the UN's
Commission on Sustainable Economic Development (CSD) could not have been
done by people who mean business. Zimbabwe is now a basket case and will
need massive injections of foreign aid to get it functioning again.It has
nothing to teach the world about sustainable development.Maybe it is time
for the countries who are bankrolling this organisation to think seriously
about whether they should withdraw their funding and use it for some more
noble purpose.

Botswana NGOs condemn Mugabe

The Zimbabwean

JOHANNESBURG - A strong
coalition of Botswana human-rights organisations, churches, schools, civil
organisations and political parties have condemned the political and
socio-economic issues taking place in Zimbabwe.In a press statement made
available to CAJ News Agency on Tuesday afternoon, the coalition - that
includes the Botswana Civil Society Coalition on Zimbabwe said they would
want the chief mediator in the Zimbabwean crisis, Thabo Mbeki, to double
efforts.The coalition also took the opportunity to salute their own fearless
Member of Parliament Boyce Sebetela, who stood firm against Mugabe's regime
in the Botswana parliament."We furthermore call for serious engagement
by SADC, and its appointed liaison, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa,
with the government of Zimbabwe in holding law enforcement accountable for
this behaviour," reads the statement.Other notable organisations that
expressed concern over Mugabe's misrule of Zimbabwe are the Botswana Council
of Churches, Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations, Botswana
Secondary Teachers Trade Union, Botswana Centre for Human Rights, The Media
Institute of Southern Africa , ConcernedAfricans Association, Amnesty
International Botswana and the International Socialists Botswana. - CAJ News